


Right Here

by SadWalrus



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: M/M, he just loves jaemin, hints at abuse, i just love him a lot ok, i kinda ramble about jaemin a lot oops, idk - Freeform, idk they don’t rlly die, its from jenos pov, its hard to explain, its like kinda character death??, jeno’s whipped, my jaemin bias is showing oof, some fluff too ig, there’s a tire swing, they just love each other so much, they kiss, they’re cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-23
Updated: 2018-07-23
Packaged: 2019-06-14 19:24:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15395718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SadWalrus/pseuds/SadWalrus
Summary: Their positions perfectly mirrored each other.And that’s how they would spend the rest of eternity.





	Right Here

**Author's Note:**

> hi.

Jeno sighed and shifted slightly. He felt old. Very old even though he was only 17. Almost 18.  
   
Tomorrow was his birthday.  
   
About six months ago he couldn’t wait for his birthday. He could take Jaemin away from that awful place he calls his home. But that was before. Before he learned how everything worked.  
   
A harsh gust of wind brought him out of his slowly spiraling thoughts and Jeno smiled faintly. He couldn’t have a better night then this on the eve of his birthday.  
   
He had always adored such nights. Nights cold and dark with an unforgiving breeze when Jaemin would have multiple layers on and yet still wouldn’t be warm enough. Nights where Jaemin would waddle up to him with that breathtaking smile of his and say,   
   
“It’s just too cold. And you’re always so warm. I’m doing this for the sake of my fingers.”  
   
He let out a soft breath in fondness at the memory. Jeno was supposed to be spending the eve of his 18th birthday with his family but he had refused. He wanted this night to be about thinking. Remembering.  
   
(And if Jeno spent more time then he probably should’ve thinking about Jaemin’s smile, well then, that’s just between us)  
   
To be honest, Jeno didn’t know how Jaemin did it. Always smiling, always giggling, always positive. He didn’t know if he’d ever seen his best friend when he wasn’t smiling.   
   
All of a sudden, he heard the sound of light footsteps coming from his left. He was about to be annoyed at his peace being disrupted, but then he recognized those steps.  
   
Oh, how whipped must he be to recognize Jaemin’s steps?  
   
He slowly rolled over to see Jaemin leaning against a tree.  
   
No. Jeno thought to himself, smiling softly. Our tree.  
   
It was the very same tree that Jeno used to always climb as a kid because he had no friends and at the playground, that wasn’t something the other kids had particularly liked.  
   
It was at this tree that he first saw Jaemin. Jaemin was playing near the playground. Even though he was acting weird nobody went near him. Not to tease him. And most definitely not to befriend him.  
   
He had intrigued Jeno. Jeno watched as he spun round and round in circles giggling to himself, and signing songs lightly and softly and somehow still in tune. Jeno had watched as he tilted his head back and laughed towards the sky.  
   
(Jeno himself looked up at the sky, but he didn’t find anything worth laughing over. To be fair, Jeno was not always the happiest most positive kid, but he did find the same cartoons as his classmates funny, and that must count for something.)  
   
Suddenly Jaemin had collapsed onto the grass. Jeno had shot up straight, back stiff as a board praying for the boy to be alright. Suddenly he had flipped himself over and was lying on his stomach, his face full of grass. Jeno heard him laugh and watched as he rolled over again. Then again. And again.  
   
Pretty soon he had rolled himself right to the base of the tree that Jeno was currently residing in. He found himself watching entranced as the boy slowly stood up and patted the tree gently as if it were his friend.  
   
All of a sudden the boys head jerked upwards and scanned the branches, and his eyes eventually landed on Jeno. Jeno had expected him to run away, but instead, he had smiled. He had slowly began to climb the tree, and Jeno had watched with far too much fondness for never having seen this kid before as he occasionally struggled to reach the next branch.  
   
When he had finally reached Jeno he had smiled really big and had declared far more softly then Jeno had anticipated,  
   
“My name’s Na Jaemin. What’s your name? Do you wanna be my friend?”  
   
Jeno snapped himself out of his reverie and got up to go hug Jaemin. Said boy, of course, welcomed him with open arms. Jeno pulled him close, his arms winding tight and secure around Jaemin’s small waist and he felt Jaemin’s arms wrap around his shoulders. With a large sigh, he pulled the younger even closer pressing their bodies up against one another. He felt Jaemin bury his face in his neck, and Jeno turned his head slightly to press his face into his hair.  
   
They stayed like that for who knows how long. To them, it was an eternity and a singular second all in one, as it had lasted forever and will always be in their minds yet it still managed to be over far too quickly.  
   
Gently they pulled apart, but not more than three inches. Jeno leaned forward and pressed his forehead against Jaemin’s. The latter sighed and slowly let his eyes flutter closed, content to bask in their closeness.

Taking a deep breath Jeno sighed and pulled away. Just as slowly as Jaemin’s eyes had closed, he opened them. He watched as Jeno slowly lay down on the grass. Smiling, Jaemin joined Jeno and immediately moved close.  
   
Neither of them had spoken yet, and that was okay.  
   
They were okay with the silence, and they were okay with how slow everything was because they were okay with pretending like they had all the time left in the world.  
   
Like they should have had.  
   
But it was Jeno’s birthday tomorrow.  
   
Jeno checked the time on his phone.  
   
10:18pm  
   
He gently set it down and let himself acknowledge the time, before letting it go.  
   
This was not something that would be helpful.  
   
Jaemin noticed the slight dip in his mood and so he moved even closer to Jeno now, if that was possible, and was basically laying half on top of him. Jaemin leaned in close to Jeno’s face, so close that their noses were almost touching and smiled as wide as he could.  
   
God, Jeno wanted to kiss him.  
   
But Jeno wasn’t allowed to. They were just best friends.  
   
Nothing more. Then again, most certainly nothing less.  
   
So Jeno did what any other person should do when faced with a smiling Na Jaemin.  
   
He smiled back.  
   
Briefly, Jeno wondered what they looked like from an outsider’s point of view.  
   
Two boys, laying in the grass and in each other’s arms on a rather cold day for such a late date in April. Their faces so close (yet not close enough if you ask Jeno), and smiling at each other like there was nothing wrong with the world and that they would live the rest of their lives together and would be able to grow old with one another.  
   
Jeno felt rather than heard when Jaemin let out a breath. He felt the deflation of his chest and the gentle puff of breath on his face.

He let his arms wrap securely around Jaemin once again, as said boy lowered himself down and let his head rest on Jeno’s shoulder.  
   
Jeno didn’t know how long they lay there, and he doubts Jaemin does either when he suddenly sat up.  
   
Jeno opened his mouth to ask where Jaemin was going when he felt a finger press to his lips. He looked at Jaemin.   
   
Wait. He mouthed.  
   
So he waited. He sat up and watched as Jaemin approached the tree and sat down on the old tire swing Jeno’s dad had set up when they were younger. He watched at the swing unbalanced because he was only on one side and his weight was pushing it down. He watched as Jaemin giggled and tried to use his feet to balance the swing out. He watched Jaemin.  
   
Soon enough Jaemin spoke up.  
   
“Do you remember when we first met?” He looked at Jeno cautiously, as if he wasn’t certain of what Jeno’s answer would be.  
   
“Of course,” Jeno responded with no hesitation.  
   
Jaemin smiled at this.  
   
“Good. I do too. You’re the only one that wanted- no wants to be my friend.”  
   
Jeno looked down at that. The words had a deeper meaning than just that. He couldn’t count the number of times Jaemin had shown up at his door in the middle of the night, beaten and bruised.  
   
He checked the time again.  
   
11:11pm  
   
Make a wish. He thought to himself bitterly. ‘I wish for Jaemin to be happy and safe always.’ Because of course he would wish for Jaemin. Just like Jaemin would wish for him. Because that’s what they do.  
   
He put his phone away and joined Jaemin on the swing.  
   
He sat opposite to him so that the swing would balance out and they both sat cross-legged just as they had when they were little kids.  
   
Jaemin sent him a blinding smile. The same smile that makes Jeno want to grab him and kiss him silly.  
   
Because that’s exactly what Jeno was. Silly in love. With his best friend.  
   
But Jaemin didn’t have to know that.  
   
So instead of kissing him (because Jeno felt that would be too obvious even for someone as oblivious as Jaemin), Jeno reached out and took Jaemin’s hands in his.  
   
They were cold.  
   
Really cold.  
   
Jeno looked up at Jaemin.  
   
He was shivering rather violently and was extremely pale. His skin appeared to have a light sheen to it as if it was coated in a layer of ice-  
   
No. No no no no no.  
   
Jeno was the one who was supposed to be freezing. It was his birthday coming up. Not Jaemin. He still had another few months left. Jaemin himself woke Jeno out of his panic.  
   
“Jeno, what’s happening? I don’t understand, I’m cold.”  
   
Jeno looked up only to see Jaemin’s smile gone. In the place of his smile were trembling lips and lines of tears tracks, where the hot tears had melted the thin ice.   
   
“Hey, hey. Look at me. Look just at me. You’re gonna be okay.”  
   
“Don’t leave me. Please don’t leave me alone. I love you, you can’t leave. You can’t go, you just… you can’t!” Jaemin sobbed, his hot tears creating new tracks in the ice of his skin and Jeno felt the cold, cold hands grip his harder.  
   
Jeno sucked in a breath. Not because of the cold hands but because of Jaemin’s confession. But then again now was not exactly the ideal time to be shocked.  
   
“I love you too. I love you so much I’m not gonna go anywhere. I’m going to stay right here. I’ll stay right here and we’ll be together forever. I love you more then you’ll ever know.”  
   
Jaemin let out some sobs before clearing his throat.  
   
“Okay. Let’s just stay here. Everything will be alright, right?”  
   
“Oh, Jaemin, of course it will. Even as the endless days and nights pass we’ll be here, together, unbreakable and frozen in time.”  
   
“Okay.” Jaemin smiled. “I like that.”  
   
And so, Jeno finally did what he wanted to every single time he saw Jaemin smile. He leaned in, and he kissed him.  
   
It wasn’t all fireworks and sparks, it was cold and slow, and they stumbled and giggled, but it was Jaemin and Jaemin was all Jeno ever needed to have things be okay. So, eventually, he pulled away but not too far.   
   
He pressed their foreheads together and smiled with tears of his own running down his cheeks, and Jaemin matched his smile with a smile of his own.  
   
Jeno finally lets out the sobs he’d been holding in as he realized his Jaemin, his precious Jaemin that was all warmth and sunshine and happiness, was frozen.   
   
He checked his phone.  
   
11:48pm  
   
Twelve minutes.  
   
Just twelve minutes until he ended up frozen as well.  
   
So Jeno threw his phone and it smashed against their tree and he stayed exactly where he was because that’s what he had promised Jaemin. He stayed where he was and talked.  
   
He talked about all the times he felt like his chest would implode from the sheer amount of love he held for Jaemin. He talked about all the things about Jaemin that made him fall in love.  
   
He talked of Jaemin’s smile, how gorgeous it was, and how much it always made Jeno want to kiss him. He talked of Jaemin’s laugh, the way his eyes would light up and he’d clap his hands. He talked of Jaemin’s strength, of how he never gave up, and how he’d always encourage everyone about everything, a happy ray of sunshine in their miserable old town.  
   
Jeno talked and he talked and he talked as the minutes ticked away. He talked until his minutes became seconds. He talked when he felt the coldness in his core. He talked when he felt it spread to his arms and legs. He talked even when he felt it reach his face and his lips were numb and sore and cold and he could barely move them.  
   
He only stopped talking right before he finally froze for good. He stopped only because he wanted to look at his Jaemin.  
   
So taking one last glance at Jaemin’s smiling face, he too smiled and then froze.  
   
Their positions perfectly mirrored each other.  
   
And that’s how they would spend the rest of eternity.  
   
Crossed legs. Intertwined hands. Touching foreheads. Smiles, of identical adoration. Swaying gently on a tire swing that holds far too many memories for two kids far too in love with each other and that had been given far too little time.

**Author's Note:**

> i hope u liked it


End file.
